Harry Edwin Woodcock Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-081

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Woodcock's papers mainly consist of three autobiographical accounts in his hand, written from 1896 to 1907, which record Woodcock's life story through 1870. "My Inheritance" tells of his youth on the family homestead in Independence, New York (to 1837) and of his years at Oberlin College (1839-48). Woodcock describes the primitive farm life of his childhood, the growth of his religious and moral convictions, the recreation and social life of his family, and his time at coeducational, anti-slavery Oberlin College. A second account, written on four tablets, repeats the story told in "My Inheritance" and extends the narrative through 1868 to include Woodcock's first twenty years as a minister in New York state (1848-68) and his first year (1868) in Tonganoxie, Kansas. He writes of the death in 1852 of his first wife, Elizabeth Hurlbut, and of his remarriage in 1853 to Lucy Thayer. (Henry Woodcock's courtship letters to Lucy Thayer are housed in Series I, Correspondence.) A third autobiographical account (1907), designated by the donor as a "Condensed Autobiography," includes an essay entitled "Exegesis." Typed transcriptions of these autobiographical writings, prepared by H. E. Woodcock's granddaughter, the donor of these papers, are located in Series IV. Other writings of Woodcock in these papers include essays, sermons, and poems.

Lucy Angela Woodcock's letters to her brother describe her missionary work among the freedpeople of Jamaica. The correspondence includes thirteen original letters (1858-71) and copies of letters (1853-56) made by Harry Woodcock into the last ninety pages of his autobiographical account, "My Inheritance." Taken together, Lucy's letters are highly descriptive of missionary life and the Jamaican people. Photocopies of select letters are housed in Series IV.

The remainder of Harry Woodcock's incoming correspondence (1871, 1894, 1905-09) consists of eleven letters written mainly by well-wishers who had heard him preach. Included is one letter (1894) from James Harris Fairchild (1817-1902), and one letter (1908) from Henry Churchill King (1858-1934), both Presidents of Oberlin College. The Fairchild letter describes the circumstances of the arrival in Oberlin of Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875); the King letter concerns a disputed point of theology.

The balance of this small collection includes Woodcock's certificates of ordination (1847-48) and commissions from the American Home Missionary Society (1852-53, 1868-78); books, pamphlets, and periodicals collected by Woodcock, including two copies of a 1900 illustrated brochure for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; and two photographs of H. E. Woodcock and his family (1875).

Dates

Creation: 1838-1911, undated

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Conditions Governing Use

Autobiographical writings in Series II, Subseries 1 are accessible on microfilm only to protect fragile originals.

The following papers of Harry Woodcock are fragile and researchers will be asked to access them on one roll of positive microfilm in the Oberlin College Archives: "My Inheritance," undated; "Autobiography," undated; Condensed autobiography, 1907; Letters and manuscripts; Copies of letters, ca. 1841-1909; Arthur Woodcock, "Family Sketch," undated; and E.T. Woodcock, "Reminiscences," undated.

Biographical Sketch

The Rev. Harry Edwin Woodcock, the third child of David (1791-1860) and Patty Oswood Woodcock (1793-1860), was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, on November 6, 1816. His siblings were Eliza M (1814-1887), George (1815-1834), Mary (1818-1834), Rachel W (1820-1904), Lucy A (1822-1876), John Quincy (1824-1914), Hugh A (1826-1910), Helen M (1831-1834), Elijah T (1833-1910), and Lowell (1836-1838). The Woodcocks left the family homestead in 1820 to settle in the frontier community of Independence, Allegheny County, New York. Harry Woodcock began his education in a log schoolhouse and completed it at Oberlin College. From 1840 to 1841, he attended the Oberlin Academy, studying under Professor James Harris Fairchild (1817-1902), and in 1845 he received the A.B. from Oberlin College ("Oberlin Collegiate Institute" prior to 1850). In 1848, Woodcock graduated from the Oberlin Theological Seminary and was subsequently ordained to the Congregational ministry.

For sixty-three years, the Rev. Harry Woodcock carried out his ministry with a missionary zeal. From 1848 to 1868, he held pastorates in several western New York towns, including Burns, Bristol, West Greece, Riga, Mecklenburg, and Gorham and Reeds Corners. He also served the church in Nelson, Pennsylvania, from 1850 to 1855. In 1868, he went to Kansas and organized a church on the Delaware reservation at Tonganoxie, serving as its pastor for thirteen years. In 1881, he moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where he joined Plymouth Church and worked to find homes for orphaned children. He settled in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1886 and in 1888 founded the Southwest Tabernacle Congregational Church, later the Metropolitan Tabernacle and Institute. Woodcock served as the Tabernacle's pastor from 1889 until his retirement. During his twenty-five years at the Tabernacle church, he was instrumental in establishing the Sunday School and in directing local mission work. Woodcock died in Kansas City in 1911 at the age of 93.

Woodcock was the author of scriptural and temperance tracts. Among his works are Fruit of the Vine (1881) and The Hebrew Language (1900). At the time of his death, he had completed over three hundred pages of an unpublished autobiography covering the years 1816 to 1870. On June 11, 1850, Rev. Woodcock married Elizabeth Hurlbut, who died two years later. Their union produced one child, Arthur, who was born in 1852. Woodcock remarried in 1853 to Lucy H. Thayer (1818-1903), and they had three children: Charles T. (1854-58), Elizabeth (1855-1949), and Ellen Antoinette (1857-1935). Woodcock's sister, Lucy Angela Woodcock (1822-76; Lit. Oberlin 1852) served as a teaching missionary in Jamaica for the American Missionary Association from 1853 until her death in 1876.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Student Files of H. E. Woodcock and Lucy Angela Woodcock (RG 28).

Note written by William E. Bigglestone.

Extent

1.20 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers of the Rev. Harry Edwin Woodcock chronicle Woodcock's youth and Congregational ministry from ca. 1820 through the first years of his Kansas pastorate (1868-70). Miscellaneous materials date from his final years in Kansas City, Missouri (1886-1911). The missionary service in Jamaica (1853-76) of Lucy Angela Woodcock, Harry Woodcock's sister, is well represented in this collection.

Method of Acquisition

The papers of Harry Edwin Woodcock were transferred to the Oberlin College Archives under deed of gift in 1973. Subsequent accessions occurred in 1987 and 1989.

Accruals and Additions

Accession Nos: 219, 1987/67, 1989/141

Related Materials

For additional materials relating to missionary work in Jamaica, consult the Student File (28) of Ralph Tyler (Sem. 1837-38), a missionary in Jamaica. For George N. Allen's 1863-64 journal of his trip to Jamaica, consult Record Group 30/67. Miscellaneous materials relating to the American Missionary Association are located in Record Group 38/1. For other collections of the papers of women missionaries, consult the Guide to the Women's History Sources in the Oberlin College Archives (1990). Oberlin College diplomas of Harry E. Woodcock and Lucy A. Woodcock are in RG 0 College General, Series 27.